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Once we can see the dimensions as well as the underlying grain, everybody will be able to have some idea of which directions it may be best to cut it in ... probably the best idea for processing it would be using a bandsaw, as a tablesaw's larger kerf would mean more wasted wood.

I see two flat areas on the edge of the burl .... my input will likely involve taking off the lesser left side flat area or simply splitting it up the middle where the angle meets, and then putting the flat sides against a fence on the bandsaw to cut your blanks to size. See picture for a visual of this idea ... obviously, the size of the cuts you make depends on the actual size of the material you have.

If you are needing normal sized pen blanks for smaller pens, then 5/8ths to 3/4ths would be ideal ... if you are wanting oversized pen blanks for larger pens, then go to 7/8ths up to 1 inch squared for your blank size.

I would also highly recommend that if you are CLOSE to the proper depth of cut but a little over, use the bandsaw and fence combination to slice away some veneer and save it for later use. Doing this before cutting it down to the small pen blank sizes would be best, if you can manage it.

Thank you for the explanation and visuals! That helps a lot. Unfortunately the piece is pretty curved, but if I cut it in half like you show, each half is a lot closer to level than the whole.
I sanded it down to 400 and also used some mineral spirits to wet it down some for a picture.
Definitely excited to get such a great piece of wood. I think I'll practice quite a bit more before turning a pen from this...

The burl is not from around my neck of the woods and I'm most surprised that you have a pic of these burl being cut all that long ago, that is priceless.

If pen blanks is what you want to get out of it, knowing now what the underside of that slice looks like, my suggestion to where and how that piece should be cut, is explained in the pic attached.

After you got it divided into the 3 pieces and then sliced at approx. 20mm slices/boards, you can then slice them again at 20mm and then decided where to cut to get you pen blanks from, all the edges could be used to make hybrid/cast blanks and use the whole thing, absolutely no waste.

Best of luck...!

Cheers
George

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__________________"Don't give others what you don't like for yourself"

You have more wood there than I thought . I would start with George`s first two cuts . Then , you have to decide whether you want all pen blanks or a mix of pen blanks and larger pieces . The thickness would allow larger items to be made , such as bottle stoppers or S&P shakers . As George said , all of it can be used . Potential for lots of nice castings .

Great! Thanks all. I'm a ways off from doing castings, but I think I'll cut some blanks and then save the other stuff to cast down the line. I might even try to get a large enough piece for salt and pepper shakers too. That sounds cool.

Remove? just cut it away as you work your material to get your blanks out of it.

As you work the material ... the thickest parts are where you are going to want to try to get your large blanks from. Cut those sections out first, and trim them up.

As you get to making the pen blanks, you'll want to set your band saw fence up to perhaps 3/4" or 5/8" for best yield for that particular chunk and your plans for it in the future ... slice it with the flat angle against the fence and the large flat face DOWN on the table, and if it's thick enough (or you just want to trim it square, which I would do anyways), you take the piece you just cut and turn it so that the face you just cut is now against the table, and run it through again to get your squared blank. If there's enough material to do it again, count yourself a lucky man and run it through again! Continue in this manner till you are finished cutting the pen blanks square.

At this point, grab your miter gauge, set it for 90 degrees, and run your blanks through as a crosscut, to square your blank ends ... makes things so much easier when it's time to put them on the lathe or try to stabilize them (a good idea, with burls!).

When all is said and done, grab your off-cuts and leavings, and if you DO NOT plan to get into doing mutt blanks or hybrid casting blanks or whatever they're being called behind their backs, you can offer them up for a flat fee + shipping or something over in the "For Sale" forum, and someone who wants to take up that challenge will snap them up in a hurry, I'm sure ... :)

Last, but not least ... you really DON'T want to remove the bark, itself. That's one of the selling points of the hybrid type blanks .... a natural live edge surface that can be seen as part of the finished pen... but bark is typically a fluffy, weak material that breaks and damages easily, so stabilization is a must for that type.